It doesn’t get easier, we get better.

I began blowing glass in 2014, out of fascination and ignorance. Prior to glass, I had worked with other art mediums: paint, clay, metal, wood, resins and multi-media. While walking through galleries, I had knowledge of the processes used to create the art I saw. Then, I went into a different a glass gallery.

When I saw glass sculptures, marbles, jewelry, cups and pipes, I was caught off guard by how little I knew about glass. I sincerely had no idea how these pieces were created and was unable to look away; the optical qualities, the colors, the designs and the functions were fascinating and seemingly endless. I had a instant, insatiable, curiosity to understand this beautiful material.

For the first few years I was self-taught; being continually humbled by cracking pieces, wonky shapes and horrible color results. Then, as my skills and knowledge developed, so did my appreciation for glass. After gaining an apprenticeship, which I held for a few years while finishing my degree. There I found my muse and niche; gold and silver fume.

Fuming precious metals became my passion in the glass world. The colors that silver and gold can create, when the artist understands how they behave, is awe-inspiring. As I obliterate these metals and trap them in glass, I feel like an alchemist; striving to produce ‘masterworks’ by rearranging matter.

Most recently, I have grown an affinity for tea. Served in the gong fu cha, or “intentional practice of brewing tea”, tea ceremony. Most of my contemporary work is oriented around tea and the wares associated with this gong fu cha practice.

-Samuel